Chapter 212 (II): Origin Overdrive

By this time Zhang Yuanqing, dancing amid the falling blades, carved a smooth semicircular path, skirted the crowd of bronze puppets, and was closing in on Zhao Chenghuang behind them.

The most cost effective way to break this is to wipe out his spirit servant. Zhang Yuanqing sprinted forward with great strides, and when he was five or six meters out he abruptly accelerated, his body blurring into a black streak that shot toward Zhao Chenghuang's back. With a snarl, he swung his blade viciously downward.

He'd meant to use the Straw Doll, but unleashing the Straw Doll's curse took a few seconds of lead time, and in those few seconds, the spirit servant could turn the bronze puppets around to strike back.

Zhao Chenghuang unhurriedly drew out the little clay figurine and cradled it in his palm.

A hum filled the air around him. The narrow-mouthed blade came down, striking the dim gray barrier and triggering motes of light to fly off in great sheets.

Zhang Yuanqing communed with the Red Dancing Shoes, wresting control of his feet back from them, and with a shift of his step he darted quickly to Zhao Chenghuang's flank, inky black power surging within his eyes.

Attacking Zhao Chenghuang had forced him into a defensive measure, and given the limit on items, that clay figurine was surely his only defensive item. The moment he used the figurine, he'd become clumsy and slow.

The spirit servant behind him stiffened under a Nocturnal Specter's menacing stare, as though it had run into some terrible natural predator.

Close enough, Zhang Yuanqing decided. Drawing a deep breath, he opened his mouth, meaning to devour the spirit servant with Soul Devouring.

At that very instant, a black shape slammed in from behind and to the side. At the critical moment, Zhao Chenghuang had summoned his yin corpse to the rescue.

Splat!

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't dodge in time and took the charge head on. Water burst upward like a fountain.

Driven by momentum, the Level 4 yin corpse smashed "through" its target's body and barreled onward.

The fountain of water splashed down onto the ground and flowed together, coalescing into Zhang Yuanqing's body. He'd been wearing the Yin Yang Spell Robe the whole time. A Water Ghost's passive was a marvelous ability that countered physical attacks. A pity the passive had a cooldown, and couldn't be kept up forever.

I'd better let you handle my feet again, Zhang Yuanqing said silently to the Red Dancing Shoes.

The moment his yin corpse attacked, Zhao Chenghuang put away the little clay figurine, and in the instant Yuanshi Tianzun's body reformed, dark energy surging around his pupils, he struck without hesitation. He sprinted forward at top speed, his right arm drawn back, sending a fist flying toward his opponent's cheek.

Seeing it, Zhang Yuanqing broke off channeling his ability without a second thought and swung his blade downward.

Both blows landed. Zhang Yuanqing's head twisted a full hundred-and-eighty degrees so he was looking behind him, while the narrow-mouthed blade split Zhao Chenghuang's chest open, exposing bone and the vague shapes of organs within.

Zhao Chenghuang's face contorted, and he retreated quickly.

With a loud crack, Zhang Yuanqing twisted his neck about and wrenched his head back so that it was facing straight again.

Honestly, one punch cured all my years of back pain, he thought, finding the bright side.

Just then, the spirit servant behind Zhao Chenghuang shook off the effect of the Soul Devouring and yanked hard on the black threads at its fingertips. Bronze clanged against bronze, and all thirty puppets were dragged back at once. They rose into the air like marionettes hauled up on strings and rained down on Zhang Yuanqing, blotting out the sky.

As they fell, the bronze puppets raised the war blades in their hands.

The Red Dancing Shoes on Zhang Yuanqing's feet flared with a sudden light, and he broke into a reckless, all-out run.

Just as its enemy was about to escape the zone the puppets covered, the spirit servant in the tattered robes pressed its ten fingers down. The thirty puppets plunged abruptly out of the sky. Thirty standard-issue war blades that cut through iron like butter fell from every direction, leaving Yuanshi Tianzun had nowhere to dodge.

At that moment, the heavy stomping of footsteps announced the arrival of Corpse No. 1, clad in war armor, who came charging in like a juggernaut.

The plummeting bronze puppets were flung aside in a jumbled sprawl. Zhang Yuanqing threw himself into a low slide, sliding out of the zone and kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. Behind him, the heavy bronze puppets crashed down like rain, kicking up sprays of yellow sand.

The tattered-robed spirit servant snapped a hand up, and the bronze puppets sprawled across the ground rose upright one after another, surrounding Corpse No. 1, blades lifting and falling.

The light barrier the war armor projected around it shuddered violently, showing every sign of shattering at any moment. Still, Corpse No. 1 stood firm under the storm of blades, its fists swinging left and right, driving back one bronze puppet after another with the ear-splitting clash of metal on metal.

The puppets weren't just monstrously strong, but were bronze and iron to the core.

It's no good, Zhang Yuanqing realized. At this rate, the armor's barrier will break.

Zhang Yuanqing gave the order to break out at once. A yin corpse had no intelligence to speak of. Without an order to break out, it would just keep fighting until it was hacked to pieces.

Corpse No. 1 immediately abandoned its fight, crouched down, and sprinted off to one side, bulldozing its way through the bronze puppets blocking its path.

The instant it burst from the encirclement, the Level 4 yin corpse charged in like a mad bull, ramming into it and driving it a hundred meters further to slam with a roar into the stone wall below the stands, the impact sending up a spiderweb of cracks.

The two yin corpses recommenced their brawling again, fist against flesh.

Over on the other side of the arena, the tattered-robed spirit servant, having experienced one ambush, pulled five bronze puppets close to its master to serve as guards, arraying them in a fan before Zhao Chenghuang.

"It's a shame my decapitation strike failed," Zhang Yuanqing commented as he leaned on his blade, his gaze sweeping across the bronze puppets to Zhao Chenghuang, who was panting heavily.

Neither side pressed the attack, falling into a brief standoff.

Zhao Chenghuang panted hard, lowering his head to look at the gash that had torn its way down his chest and belly. The bleeding had stopped, and the blood crusting over it had taken on a blackish hue, a sign that the wound was about to scab over. Even so, a wound this severe would take a Nocturnal Specter with their self-healing abilities several hours to recover. His condition had worsened further.

Zhao Chenghuang pushed down his irritation and thought it over carefully. He had two strategies available. One was to stall for time, wait out the operational time of the Red Dancing Shoes, then send the bronze puppets swarming in to subdue Yuanshi Tianzun. Two he could bank up his stamina, and once he'd regained enough to activate Origin Overdrive again, he'd play the general, leading his puppets to cut Yuanshi Tianzun down.

The crux of both strategies was the same: stall for time.

Zhang Yuanqing was likewise mulling countermeasures.

This spirit servant's no fool. It knows to set guards to protect itself.

In its second form, the Red Dancing Shoes could only be worn for five minutes. After five minutes, he'd have no choice but to cancel the second form and switch to the first form. The item description for the Red Dancing Shoes had not mentioned the concept of a cooldown, but having used them for so long, Zhang Yuanqing had worked out the pattern.

The correct way to use the Red Dancing Shoes was as such: use the first form, then the second form, then finally end with a cringey dance. That was one cycle.

Of course, he could also use it in its first form then do the cringe dance, or use it in its second form and then do the cringe dance. But in essence, after using the first form and the second form, he had to do the dance to start the next cycle.

Zhao Chenghuang's spirit servant has brought back bronze puppets to guard it. I already tried to assassinate it, and doing it again would be difficult. That means there's only the dumbest idea left. Lucky my stamina's barely been touched.

As both fighters took a moment to breathe, the crowd's fervor slowly cooled and reason crept back in.

"What a shame. He could've used Night Wandering to ambush the spirit servant, but the ground has been turned to sand, and he would have left footprints either way. Yuanshi Tianzun failed there."

"Huh? Why isn't Zhao Chenghuang having the bronze puppets attack him? Shouldn't he be burning through Yuanshi Tianzun's stamina right now?"

"A thought just hit me. What's the cost of using Yuanshi Tianzun's Red Dancing Shoes? These items always have a time limit, right?"

"Are you saying Zhao Chenghuang's trying to figure out the price of using those shoes?"

"Zhao Chenghuang worked out the flaw in that robe. Getting to the bottom of this is nothing."

A hush fell all around.

Elder Sun's expression eased a little. "When worn on the feet, that item lasts for five minutes. Zhao Chenghuang's tactic is spot on. Guard the spirit servant and wait for Yuanshi Tianzun's item to expire. Then, he can counterattack."

At that, Elder Zhao stroked his beard and smiled.

Elder Hongying smiled too. "That's good, then. This Yuanshi Tianzun kid is genuinely tenacious. Having watched him climb step by step, from the first arena matches to this final battle, I find myself admiring him greatly..."

She didn't go on. Anything more and it would've been "Old Sun, you're a fool."

Right then, the crowd in the stands saw Yuanshi Tianzun, riding his red dancing shoes, fly head-first into the puppet army with sword in hand, like a lone brave soul charging into ten thousand troops.

The onlookers' hearts jumped, and even the elders were momentarily startled. Had he lost his mind?

Blade held out in front of him, robe billowing behind, Zhang Yuanqing charged the bronze puppet army like a heroic warrior. Mid-sprint, he suddenly slid a step to the left, dodging the falling blade of an enemy just so, and flung his arm back. He tightened his grip on his weapon, forearm bulging, and whipped the narrow-mouthed blade around in a slash.

Clang!

The narrow-mouthed blade sliced its way across a bronze puppet's chest, carving a deep gash.

That hide is thick, Zhang Yuanqing griped inwardly as his body abruptly collapsed downward, letting two war blades shave over his head.

Then, at the Red Dancing Shoes' command, he sprang up, thrusting the blade into the bronze puppet in front of him, the edge drawing a trail of dazzling sparks off the bronze body.

Two more war blades came at him from behind.

The Red Dancing Shoes made his feet leap up, planting one foot on the chest of the bronze puppet in front and sending him into a backflip that cleared the blades coming at him from behind.

Zhang Yuanqing spun through the air, both hands gripping the hilt of his sword, and with a low, heavy growl, rode the momentum of the fall and cleaving down with everything he had. The narrow-mouthed blade struck a bronze puppet's shoulder, carving a gash a dozen-odd centimeters deep. The webbing of his hand split open again, and blood streamed out.

He retreated quickly, pulling out of the zone before the bronze puppets could surround him.

No good... As sharp as this war blade is, it still can't cut these things apart.

Blade in hand, Zhang Yuanqing retreated, feeling anxious inside. At this rate, the five minutes would be up. What now?

His thoughts whirled, and suddenly he recalled the scene back when Big Muscle and White Dragon had teamed up to attack the Level 3 Enchanting Demon Rampaging Recklessly.

Back then, Rampaging Recklessly had transformed into a creature with thorny armor all over him, impervious to blade and spear. Big Muscle had attacked him with fire, White Dragon had rapidly cooled the area with water, and finally Guan Ya had squeezed off several well-aimed shots, piercing the armor with ease.

By the time the memory had played itself through, Zhang Yuanqing had already decided on the third item he would use. Opening his inventory, he grabbed the Burst Pistol, raised the muzzle, and pulled the trigger at the bronze puppets rushing in for the kill.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dark red trails crossed the arena and streaked into the puppets, exploding across their bodies, the rounds striking mainly at the chest and face.

When the Burst Pistol's rounds hit the bronze bodies, there was no sharp ring of metal on metal, but a duller detonation, like countless tiny little explosions. Wherever the bullets struck, the spots turned blue-black and the metal took on an iridescent sheen. Wisps of gray smoke rose from the impact points.

Zhang Yuanqing had attracted their attention and fired at them at the same time. At this close range, nearly every bullet hit its mark. At most, his aim was off by a little, and a bullet meant for the chest hit the crotch instead.

He continued shooting for two minutes straight, after which he put away the Burst Pistol. A black glow gathered in his left palm, condensing into a ball of water the size of a human head.

This was the limit of what he could manage with the Yin Yang Spell Robe. After all, there was no river, pond, or faucet nearby.

Zhang Yuanqing steered the ball of water in front of him and pressed it gently against the narrow-mouthed blade. The cold water traveled down the steel, coating it. That done, Zhang Yuanqing charged into the bronze puppet swarm, blade in hand.

Taste my ice blade—no, water blade!

With his back hunched low, he threw himself into the fray, his feet dancing, sidling up to an opponent then stepping aside, leaping, doing the splits, prancing about as though practicing the fabled Ripple-treading Steps[1], his motion seemingly chaotic yet hiding a deep technique, always slipping deftly clear of the cleaving blades that threatened to strike him from all sides.

At the same time, he swung the narrow-mouthed blade, stabbing, hacking, sweeping, cleaving, striking at the scorching hot spots on the bronze puppets' bodies.

The arena was filled with a fierce hissing as gray smoke began to rise. Wherever he struck, the hardened bronze cracked at once. The fissures spread, quickly tearing the puppet's whole body apart in a cascading effect.

In one breath, Zhang Yuanqing cut clean through the puppet formation and found himself not far from Zhao Chenghuang. Behind his lightly-billowing black robe, the bronze puppets toppled one after another, shattered bronze chunks scattering across the ground.

Just then, the Red Dancing Shoes on his feet burst apart into two streaks of red light, reforming themselves a short distance off.

The webbing of Zhang Yuanqing's hand had split to expose the bone of his hand, blood dripping down his blade, but he paid no mind at all. He locked his gaze onto Zhao Chenghuang a few meters away and lifted his chin.

"Well?"

As the saying went, with deep knowledge of maths and sciences, one can go anywhere in the world and be unafraid.

Zhao Chenghuang's face had taken on an iron gray hue. The corner of his mouth twitched faintly with rage, though whether at the taunt at the total annihilation of his bronze puppets, no one could say.

By this time, there were no bronze puppets left before him. As he'd watched Yuanshi Tianzun smash the puppets one by one, Zhao Chenghuang had ordered the five at his side to attack, but they too hadn't been spared, and were now lost under the onslaught of the enemy's merciless blows.

The stands were dead silent. Countless gazes fixed on Yuanshi Tianzun standing there, blade in hand. They'd never dreamed he would break the deadlock this way, with a wild violence that was somehow full of technique!

The blood within the Fire Sages' veins ran hot, their breath quickening, a glorious, cathartic thrill running through them. This was how a real man ought to fight.

A few seconds later, the cheers came, and the whole venue boiled over.

Yet the elders' seats were oddly quiet. The fight had progressed this far. Every item that could have been used had been used, every stratagem that should have been tried had been tried. The two contestants had few cards left to play. Even the elders found it difficult to guarantee who would win and who would lose.

The Taiyi Sect elders held their silence, a weight hanging heavy on their hearts. They realized that Zhao Chenghuang might not take the crown so easily after all.

By the reckoning of the Five Elements Alliance elders, barring accidents, Zhao Chenghuang would be the champion of the Transcendent tier. Even so, there was a thread of anticipation. Having Yuanshi Tianzun squeeze into the top two was already meeting the expectations of the Five Elements Alliance. Their goal had been reached, and so the elders hadn't counted on him to snag the crown and had happily bet against him, with Fu Qingyang as the house. However, the fight had come this far. Could there possibly, maybe, be a turnaround?

Elder Teddy and the others had suddenly begun to hope, but were worried it was a delusion, and so chose silence.

On the field, Zhao Chenghuang drew a deep breath. "Yuanshi Tianzun, I admit you're strong. Strong enough to give me trouble. You're the strongest Transcendent-tier Nocturnal Specter I've ever met. One day, you might become a formidable rival."

As he spoke, he opened his mouth and swallowed the spirit servant behind him, gazing at Yuanshi Tianzun with a grave expression. "But that's the future. As for now, I'm still going to come out on top."

That said, Zhao Chenghuang drew his third item from his inventory, a green leaf shaped pendant, and hung it against his chest.

In an instant, it lit up with a soft green glow. Threads and wisps of green mist drifted through skin, flesh, and meridians, seeping into the blade wound on his chest. Within a few breaths, the wound began to close, then scabbed over, and Zhao Chenghuang's pale face gradually flushed with color.

He wasn't fully healed, nor was his stamina fully restored. A Transcendent-tier Wood Demon's recovery was limited, and was unable to bring the dead back to life the way Life Essence could. But it was enough. With this item, Zhao Chenghuang had mended himself enough to be able to use Origin Overdrive one more time.

Zhao Chenghuang lowered his head slightly, and a pained roar tore from his throat. Muscles bulged, block by block, and his frame swelled. His skin swiftly turned blue-black and took on a metallic sheen, black veins winding through his knotted muscles, his nails extending into black, razor-sharp claws. A layer of white frost condensed under his feet and spread outward as a cold Yin aura descended.

As the spectators looked on at the snarling Zhao Chenghuang, curses rose from their collective throats.

"Origin Overdrive again?!"

"He can still use Origin Overdrive? What's with this Zhao Chenghuang? How does he have so many cards? Having him go up against other Transcendent-tier contestants is just bullying, plain and simple!"

The crowd was on the edge of despair. They'd watched Yuanshi Tianzun give everything, overcome Zhao Chenghuang's methods one after another, and claw his way to this point through sheer grit and determination, only to see his opponent go into Origin Overdrive again.

Even the crowd felt despair just looking on. One could only imagine Yuanshi Tianzun's state of mind.

The elders had been observing things coolly, withholding comment, but after Zhao Chenghuang unleashed his second Origin Overdrive, the Taiyi Sect elders' expressions visibly eased.

The Five Elements Alliance elders, for their part, remained rather calm. This was within expectations, after all. Zhao Chenghuang winning the tournament was the most reasonable development, and having held no hopes in the first place, they would feel no disappointment at that outcome.

I knew this guy still had something up his sleeve, or he wouldn't have held that third item back so long, Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself as he observed Zhao Chenghuang in his Overdrive state. That Wood Demon-class item had been Zhao Chenghuang's insurance, ensuring he could Origin Overdrive one more time.

In Origin Overdrive mode, Zhao Chenghuang's strength and speed was almost equal to that of a Saint, and in the current situation, he did indeed have the power to settle things with a single blow.

"You really are a terrifying opponent," Zhang Yuanqing acknowledged. "Maybe you really are at the peak of Transcendent-tier combat power."

Zhang Yuanqing reached into his pocket and pulled out seven little blue pills, left one in his pocket, and tossed the rest into his mouth, swallowing them whole. Then, in his mind's eye, he visualized the face of his long-dead father.

His heartbeat abruptly surged, blood flooding through his vessels like a torrent, his adrenaline spiking, his whole body purring like an engine running flat out, every function climbing toward its limit. But because of the pills, he heard no clamorous noise, and his brain received no broken, chaotic images. His consciousness was crystal clear, his control over his body honed to the utmost.

Zhang Yuanqing silently coaxed the Power of the Dark Moon within him, stirring it into disorder bit by bit, detonating it, and a sudden chill struck his heart, a cold current rushing into his bones and out to all four limbs.

"Heh heh~"

Zhang Yuanqing hunched over, his skin swiftly staining itself blue-black and taking on a metallic gleam. Razor-sharp black claws sprouted from his ten fingers, as black viscous energy swirled within his eyes. His frame abruptly swelled, his height stretching to one meter ninety, and his muscles thickened, black veins bulging up under them one by one. Beneath his feet, white frost condensed and spread out quickly in every direction.

Within a few breaths, he'd become a ferocious monster, facing off against the other monster across the arena.

Origin Overdrive?! Elder Zhao shot to his feet, his gaze sharp, fixed dead on the field.

The Taiyi Sect's Nocturnal Specters went blank-faced, and the eyes of the Five Elements Alliance elders lit up all at once.

Up in the stands, a figure in a white suit suddenly rose.

Behind him, a row of White Tiger Guards stood up in unison.

That single move set off a chain reaction. The dark mass in the stands surged and swelled as great swaths of spectators rose to their feet.

1. This is a technique from the legendary novels written by Jin Yong (Father of modern wuxia). The user is basically fluid and impossible to hit ☜